The Office
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: AU. Jemma and Leo are still at the Academy when SHIELD shuts down due to the Hydra infiltration, and the two are offered jobs at Stark Industries by the Starks themselves; they just aren't given the jobs that they had expected. Loosely inspired by the sitcom of the same name.
1. The Reset

"Jemma Simmons has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. She was my only friend, really… What? Oh, we met at SHIELD Academy. Yeah, the shutdown was a surprise, but… we're both very grateful for the jobs offered to us here at Stark Industries."

Leo Fitz sat somewhat awkwardly in front of the camera trained on him, wishing he could just return to his desk. After everything that had happened in the past year, he hardly thought a documentary was appropriate, but apparently some bloke wanted to do a story on SI so, as an employee of the company, he didn't have much say in the matter.

It all happened virtually in the blink of an eye. One day he and Jemma were working in the lab at the Academy, perfecting a dendrotoxin gun, and the next the entire operation was being shut down. No more funding for their projects, no more classes, no more nothing. No more SHIELD, to be exact; word had finally got out that it had been infiltrated by Hydra, and the government's first plan of action had been shutting down the Academy to prevent them from adding onto their already astounding ranks.

Leo and Jemma had both been astounded. The Academy couldn't shut down; that was mental! The mere thought of it had terrified the two of them. Before the Academy, their lives had been lonely ones. Always too smart to be taken seriously in the ranks of friendship, until they met each other; without the Academy, would they be split up?

To their astonishment, it had been none other than Tony and Pepper Stark who eased their concerned minds. They were each offered jobs at the company, given their beyond incredible intelligences, and they clamoured to accept. What they had failed to realize was that they would have to work their way up to genuine lab positions.

"There must be some mistake," Jemma had told the man who showed them to 'their workspace' on their first day on the job, upon seeing that he had taken them up to an office of some sorts. The space was filled with high tech cubicles, all glass and holograms and projection screens, but the gist was the same as the less tech-savvy offices in Los Angeles; answering phones and placing orders for customers. Leo was to be in one of the cubicles, answering any questions that customers may have about their tech, and Jemma was to be filling a recently vacated PA's position, aiding the overseer. Overall, the positions were not what they had expected when they were offered 'jobs at Stark Industries'.

"There's no mistake," the man, whom the two later learned was named Happy Hogan, informed them. "Mr. and Mrs. Stark came to a consensus that they couldn't just throw you two in with the other scientists upstairs; they wouldn't have taken kindly to two kids being handed over jobs they had to work years for. So, that's what you have to do; work for the positions."

"That's bloody mental!" Leo had shouted, furious at the thought of having to work at such a mundane job after all of the time and effort both he and Jemma had put in at the Academy. "We're SHIELD's highest ranking research scientists for our age demographic-"

"And, I hate to break it to you, kid, but SHIELD doesn't exist anymore," Happy had told him, walking over to the empty cubical that now read _L. Fitz_ in the typical Stark Industries' green font on the glass. He'd picked up a headset and handed it to the young engineer before gesturing to the front desk a few feet away for Jemma.

"If you'll follow me, Miss Simmons, I'll introduce you to Mitchel Frost, your overseer."

Jemma, after tossing Leo a rather hopeless look, had followed. They didn't have a choice but to accept the jobs that had been offered to them; there were no alternatives. Nowhere else would hire them with SHIELD Academy in their credentials because, technically, the Academy didn't exist.

Now, a year later, they were still stuck in the same office space, without the slightest hope of being promoted anytime soon. How could they be? Working in tech support and as a personal assistant gave them little to no chance to show their skills and, while Leo still dreamed of obtaining more, Jemma had virtually given up on the dream and settled into her present position. It was better than nothing, after all.

Leo thought doing a documentary on the company was stupid. People didn't care about the faces in the building; they only cared about the name on the sign, and the man behind that name. People cared about Iron Man, not the people who worked for him and his wife.

"No, Jemma and I are just friends. Good friends. She's… engaged, actually."

The word tasted foul on Leo's tongue as he answered a, pointlessly personal, question about his relationship with his past partner. That was all he and Jemma were; best friends. Her fiancé, Tim, made sure of that.

Tim worked in Engineering; the exact sector where Leo wanted to be, rather than answering phones and constantly asking, "Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?"

Being Mr. Frost's PA, Jemma often had to do errands for him, and one of those errands happened to be a trip down to Engineering a few months ago. There she met Tim; tall, strong, blond Tim; Prince Charming Tim; Tim the Slick Git Masters. Leo hated the bloke, although he'd never say so aloud. Jemma was happy, and that was all that mattered. Of course, Leo didn't think the American prat deserved to have Jemma wearing his ring, but what could he say about it, really?

"She's engaged to Tim Masters, in Engineering. _Yes_, that's my field of expertise, how _kind_ of you to know that," he said through gritted teeth when asked who Jemma was set to marry, and then heard the comment about how the interviewers had heard he studied Engineering before the Academy was shut down. Upon being told he could go, Leo rose from his chair and walked out of the office's conference room, fixing his tie with a heavy sigh. There was no telling how long this blasted documentary was going to last, and he didn't like the thought of his every move being filmed.

"You look awfully gloomy."

Looking over at the front desk, Leo managed a small smile when his eyes locked on Jemma, seated behind her computer. No matter how miserable things got, he took some small amount of comfort in the fact that they at least got to work here together. Things could have been much worse with the Academy shut down; they could have been permanently separated.

"It's all the cameras," he explained, leaning against the desk and stealing one of the peppermints from the bowl located there for visitors- not that they got many up here. "They're making me a bit… paranoid."

"Paranoid?" she asked, looking up from her computer to give him her full attention- a habit he was eternally grateful she seemed to have, "Whatever for? You've got nothing to hide, Fitz."

"Doesn't mean I like it," he disagreed, wrinkling his nose as he glanced over at the conference room, lowering his voice. "Between you and me, I think they're looking for dirt."

"Dirt?" she asked, laughing a little and leaning her elbows on her desk, "Why?"

"It's like they're trying to turn us into some sort of reality television program," he remarked, taking another peppermint. "I wouldn't be surprised if Stark comes in here himself, looking for his next apprentice, and starts picking us off one by one until-"

"_Fitz!_"

Leo jumped upon hearing his name being shouted from across the office and turned toward the source of the noise- the staff's break room. He had to bite back a grin when he saw Grant Ward stalking toward him, looking absolutely furious.

"You did it, didn't you? I _know_ you did. He did it again!"

He shouted the last part for the entire office to hear, and several people removed their headsets to curiously watch whatever was going on. Leo, however, had put up a façade of innocence, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his trousers and tilting his head as the older ex-agent stalked over to him.

"What's the problem, Ward?"

"How many times have I told you not to touch my stuff?" Grant spat at him, and Leo had to try his damnedest not to laugh.

"I haven't touched anything in your possession, Ward; I haven't the foggiest what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah? Then explain _this_."

Jemma jumped when he dropped a plate of red gelatin onto the desk in front of them, and she rolled her eyes as she turned to her past partner.

"Honestly, Leo?"

"What?" he asked, a laugh escaping him now. "It wasn't me! Why on Earth would I ever feel the need to submerge Ward's stapler in gelatin?"

"I know it was you," Ward ground out again, and Leo simply shrugged and shook his head, lifting his hands as if for inspection to prove his innocence.

"Can you prove it, Grant?"

Narrowing his eyes, Grant stuck his hand in the dessert and tugged his stapler out, pointing a threatening finger at the younger man.

"I'm onto you, nerd, and I will prove that it was you."

Leo shook with further silent laughter as Ward walked off, and Jemma shook her head.

"What a waste of perfectly good gelatin," she observed, and the two were quiet for a moment longer before bursting into a fit of giggles. It was no secret that Leo had taken a shine to taunting the older man the second he took up the desk space beside his about three months earlier. Working at SI had been painfully boring for Leo up until then, and he had all but jumped on the chance to have a bit of fun when the newest member of tech support had taken to criticizing his workspace, mocking his accent and calling him "nerd" far too often. Leo'd had his share of bullies in school; he didn't need one at work, too.

"Ah, he deserved it. He called me 'Merida' yesterday," Leo stated, to which Jemma giggled all the more, and he huffed with a smile. "Don't laugh at that! Bloody hell, woman, whose side are you on?"

"Mine, I should hope."

Leo's playful demeanor shrank back when he heard the voice behind him, and he cleared his throat, turning hesitantly to face the taller man. Leo wasn't short, by any means, but 6'1 still towered above his 5'8, and certainly over Jemma's 5'4. He was _too_ tall, in his opinion.

"Hello, Tim," he remarked, politely, and Tim simply nodded in response before walking around the desk to greet Jemma with a kiss. Doing his very best not to make a face of disgust, Leo made his way back to his cubicle, sitting down and snagging his headset. At least with that, he could drown out the conversation they were having that he undoubtedly didn't want to hear.

Bringing up the call at the top of his list, Leo tapped the screen and struggled not to sigh as he said, "You've reached the Stark Industries helpline, and you're speaking to Leo; how may I help you?"

"_Hi, yes, hello; I think my hard drive has been wiped. I purchased a Stark computer months ago for my business, and now all of my files have vanished…_"

"Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again, ma'am?"


	2. Vouching

"Leo? Oh, Leo's lovely. What else can I say? He's my best friend in the world."

Jemma Simmons smiled from her seat in the conference room, hands folded neatly in her lap, awaiting some sort of question about her work for Mr. Frost. It had been just over a year now since she and Leo had begun working for Stark Industries, and, as it turned out, things weren't as bad here as she had initially thought they would be.

Being a personal assistant? The thought had flabbergasted and horrified her. She was England's brightest for her age; a true muggle Hermione Granger, as Leo had so often put it back at the Academy. Jemma Simmons knew she was destined for more than arranging appointments and fetching coffee, so why would Mr. and Mrs. Stark have her down in an office instead of working alongside the company's research scientists?

The answer, as much as she hated to agree with it, made sense. She and Leo couldn't just be given top jobs at SI fresh out of an academy that, according to the government, had never existed. It pained her to think that all of those years of training and research had been for nothing, but there wasn't much she could do at this point. It was either take the assistant position here, or go back home to England and start from the bottom all over again to obtain a good education. Thanks to SHIELD being demolished, all of her credentials, even from before she was recruited by the agency, were wiped. The best job she could get _was_ as an assistant to a Stark Industries overseer.

Plus, if she worked here, she got to stay with Leo. That had been the main decided factor in Jemma's books. She couldn't imagine leaving her best friend behind, and she was certain he felt the same way. So, they had taken the jobs.

Finally, the interviewers brought up her infamous boss.

"Mr. Frost? He's… nice," she said, forcing a little smile, but in truth Jemma couldn't stand him. She was polite and professional, since her job was a good and steady one, but her boss was truly the downside to all the good aspects of working her.

In short, he was a creep. Mitchel Frost was the kind of person who had likely fired his past PA because she was getting old, and had hired the prettiest thing in a skirt he could find to replace her. Jemma hadn't been sure whether to be flattered or offended on her first day, but whatever flattery she might have felt quickly demolished the first time he tried to cop a feel.

He wasn't young, by any means; likely a year or two younger than Tony Stark, and about ten times less attractive. He was balding and coarse, and had a crude sense of humor. Jemma often found herself as the blunt of many of his jokes.

Leo in particular had been infuriated by his behavior- almost to the point that Jemma feared he was going to get himself fired sticking up for her. This fear had made itself known around the two month mark at the company, when Jemma had been in the break room making her afternoon tea, and Frost had walked in and remarked, "I've got something you're sure to like that could go with that biscuit."

Jemma had been horrified, her face flushing bright red, but not nearly as red as Leo's, who had overheard the comment when he had come into the room to join her for their tea.

"Oi!" he had snapped, stalking over and just barely restraining himself from shoving the older man away from her. Frost had jumped, clearly not having known anyone else was in the room, proceeding to fix his tie and walk away before further comments could be made. Even if he was a creep, the man was a professional and would only harass Jemma if she found herself alone with him.

Despite Leo's pressing to know if this had happened more than once, Jemma had calmed him down and persuaded him to drink his tea and let it slide. He did, but from that moment on he kept a very close eye on their boss.

Around the five month mark, Jemma had the privilege of meeting Tim Masters. Mr. Frost had been up to his neck in conference calls and paperwork, and hadn't had time to go and check on the Engineering sector to see how the products were coming along. So, he'd sent Jemma to do it. It was the first time she'd gotten to stray from the office space she'd become accustomed to, so she'd jumped at the opportunity.

Tim programmed and assembled Stark computers. He had offered to show her around the sector, considering Frost hadn't given her much instruction, and even filed the daily report for her. She found him to be charming, and impossibly handsome. If Brad Pitt and Thor somehow formulated their DNA and combined it to create new life, she was certain it would look startlingly like Tim Masters.

He was sweet, as well. After her morning in Engineering, he had stopped by the office frequently, sometimes bringing her coffee from the shop down the street which was much better than the stuff in the break room.

The two started dating a few weeks later, and Jemma couldn't recall a time when she had been quite so happy. Maybe fate had brought her here to Stark Industries, and she had become sure of that possibility when Tim proposed two months ago. Leo was happy for her, but had expressed concerns that things were moving a little fast. Jemma had waved the concerns away. She and Tim were in love; being engaged wasn't going to change that. Besides, they had no plans to get married right away. Quite the contrary; they were both busy people, and had decided to get around to it when they both had earned more vacation time.

Jemma expressed all of this to the interviewers, smiling all the way, and became rather baffled when, out of all of that, they came back to the subject of Leo.

"What? Oh, I… no, we've always just been friends. Best friends. Never anything more… I hope he finds someone, though. No one deserves to be happy more than Leo."

She was dismissed after that, and found herself considering the paranoia that Leo had mentioned yesterday. It was odd, the way the questions they asked were more personal than business related, but she wasn't all too concerned. Like Leo, she had nothing to hide.

Speaking of her best friend, his mood had seemed a little off since yesterday afternoon. She knew Leo wasn't happy here, and that broke her heart. He wasn't content sitting in a cubicle, answering phones; he wanted to be doing something more useful and productive. He was a very hands-on person, and she could clearly tell that he felt his engineering skills were being wasted here, in a job he seemed certain he would never actually be promoted from.

So, Jemma took it upon herself to possibly get that ball rolling. Leo had worked hard here for over a year; he deserved a little recognition. It just so happened that her fiancé had a bit of leverage down in Engineering, so maybe he could put in a good word with his higher-ups.

"Hey, babe," Tim greeted her when he arrived with her daily coffee, and Jemma smiled, tilting her head up to peck his lips, setting it on her desk as she sat at her computer behind it.

"Hello, dear," she said in response, and he grinned, leaning against the table.

"Working hard or hardly working?"

"Oh, the same as usual," she told him with a sigh, sorting through a few papers and memos on the surface that Frost would inevitably just throw in the trash no matter how much work she put in to organizing them for him. She didn't care anymore, as long as she got paid.

"I actually was hoping to talk to you about something," she started, glancing up at him from the papers, and his blond brow furrowed over his blue eyes.

"What is it? Has Frost been at you again-?"

"No, no, love, it's nothing like that," she assured him, shaking her head, omitting the fact that her boss had tried to grab her arse this morning. She didn't like talking about how Frost treated her with Tim; he didn't quite understand. He would simply fly off the handle and make threats that could cost them both of their positions, and that was the last thing she wanted right now. She preferred to discuss matters like these with Leo; he was her best friend, and she could trust him to listen and keep his temper in check. Not to mention, he was usually the one who safeguarded her from harassment, anyway. He didn't linger by her desk every free moment he had just to make conversation. There were other reasons; reasons that Jemma was grateful to him for.

"It's actually about Leo," she started, and Tim's eyes clouded over.

"Has he been bothering you?" he asked, and Jemma's eyes widened at his almost dangerous expression, watching as his gaze flitted over to Leo's desk, where the Scot was currently on a call with a university student whose laptop was malfunctioning.

"No! No, heavens no; nothing is _wrong_, Tim, I just wanted to ask something of you."

He relaxed a little at that, but he was still frowning over at Leo, and that made Jemma uneasy.

"What is it?"

"I… could you look at me when I'm speaking to you, please?"

Finally, he turned his gaze back to her, the coldness in his eyes all but gone, although there was still something unnameable there.

"Yeah, sorry. What is it?"

"I was wondering if, maybe, you could put in a good word for Leo with your supervisor," she began, and Tim was clearly struggling not to say something he'd regret.

"Babe, you know I-"

"Just hear me out, please? Fitz and I have been working here for over a year, and neither of the Starks have spoken to us since the day we were recruited. I'm starting to worry we'll never be promoted, and while I wouldn't mind all that much… I fear he would. He works so hard, Tim, and he's so smart; he's a _genius_. You wouldn't believe the things I saw him build at the Academy-"

"Jemma, stop," Tim said, and she fell silent with a small frown as he continued. "You know I would do anything for you, but I can't do this. There aren't any openings in Engineering, and there's a line a mile long of people clamoring for a spot whenever one pops up. It doesn't matter how smart or talented Fitz is; he doesn't have the credentials to make it to the front of that line. Chances are, he'll never be promoted, and-"

"But you could _say_ something!"

"-there's nothing I can do. If I try to make suggestions like that to my supervisor, he would just threaten to make my job an opening for whoever I vouched for. Do you want me to get fired, Jem?"

Her expression fell, and she dropped her gaze from his, shaking his head as she resumed shuffling through the papers on her desk.

"No, of course not."

"Then just leave it alone. Stark Industries is highly competitive. I don't know how things were at your Academy, but they're different here. No one can dig Fitz out of the hole he's gotten himself into but him."

Jemma didn't meet Tim's gaze at her words, a small frown pulling at her lips. It wasn't Leo's fault that he was here; neither of them had been given a choice. They had worked incredibly hard for years to obtain research scientist jobs with SHIELD, and all of that had been ripped away and they were swept under the rug with the other Academy recruits. No one deserved a job in Engineering _more_ than Leo; she often found herself thinking that he deserved it more than Tim.

"I'll see you at 5:00, for dinner," she said simply, signaling that their conversation was over, and Tim frowned.

"Jemma-"

"I'm busy, Timothy. I need to get these papers on file for Mr. Frost before 2:00. I'm sure you have very pressing matters to attend to, as well."

He frowned more deeply, shaking his head before pushing off from his spot on her desk and making his way out of the office area, the door swinging shut behind him with a _hiss_.

She didn't risk looking up from her work, because she knew that looking over at Leo would make her feel terrible. She had been so hopeful that this plan of hers might have worked, and now she felt like a useless excuse for a best friend.

Because she didn't look up, Jemma didn't notice that Leo's eyes were trained on her, his brow knit together gently as a small frown pulled at his own lips. His call had ended about five minutes ago, and he'd just caught the end of her conversation with her fiancé.

She had been vouching for him, trying to get him out of this blasted place. She knew he was unhappy, and she'd been trying to do something about it; kind, caring Jemma, always looking out for him even if the attempts were futile.

Leo felt his heart squeeze when he saw her wipe her eyes and he looked back to his own work, unsure of what to do. That bloody git didn't deserve her, but what could he possibly do about that?


	3. The Promotion: Part 1

At first, Leo and Jemma did their best to be attentive during the weekly staff meetings. For just over two months, they sat side by side at the long glass table and listened to Mr. Frost drone on, and on, and on about the profit margin and how they could improve the workplace. No one ever made real suggestions about the latter anymore, because Frost didn't take them to heart. Unless it was an "improvement" he could benefit from he didn't want to sink any of the budget into it.

So, when listening to him discuss numbers and marketing trends became too boring for even Jemma to attempt, the members of the Stark Industries office team created a bit of a game, so to speak.

"Every meeting, Frost insists on giving us a formal presentation- he makes PowerPoints and everything. Well, Jemma makes them for him, but he takes the credit… Anyway, he hooks his computer up to this screen device that Stark designed, and when he inevitably gets carried away talking about his plans for the company, his screen saver will come on."

Biting down on his lips to keep from laughing, a grin pulled at them as Leo sat back in his chair. Today, given it was Meeting Day, the documentary film crew was asking what meetings in the office were generally like. In short, meetings weren't taken very seriously. One could only handle so much of Mitchel Frost discussing how he thought having the coffee machine moved into his office would be an excellent "improvement"; an improvement for him, maybe, if you called making sexual harassment easier an improvement.

So, in turn, most of the employees were simply explaining the screensaver game.

"It's a little square that bounces around the screen," Jemma explained when they got to her, moving her hands as she spoke in an attempt to demonstrate. "We'll all somewhat attempt to pay attention to whatever the meeting is about at first, but by the time the screensaver comes on, we've all pretty much tuned Mr. Frost out anyway…"

Offering a sheepish smile, she cleared her throat before continuing.

"So, when the square appears, that's when the fun begins," she stated, a small grin tugging at her lips, "You see, it bounces around on the screen, hitting all four sides and going in different directions. Ever since the first time we noticed his screensaver, we've been waiting for it to go directly into a corner. I saw it, once, when I was doing some filing in Mr. Frost's office. It was _amazing_."

"She told you that?" Leo questioned during his own interview, which was after Jemma's. "Oh, no; Jemma _thinks_ that she saw it. She didn't really see it."

The weekly meeting took place after all of the interviews were finished and, of course, word got back to Jemma that Leo didn't really believe she had seen the square go into a corner.

"I _saw_ it!"

"Okay, Jem."

Huffing as they walked into the conference room, Jemma shook her head and took her seat beside him. Leaning back in his own seat once he sat down, Leo grinned. He'd never admit it, but she was adorable when she was huffy.

"I believe that you think you saw it."

"I saw it, and it was amazing."

"Okay."

She was about to retort again when Mr. Frost entered the room, so instead she stuck her tongue out at him before turning her attention to their boss.

"Alright, team, good news and even better good news!"

Usually the "even better good news" wasn't better at all.

"The good news is that sales doubled last week from the week before. Mrs. Stark was so impressed with our team that she's offering a promotion to our top seller."

For the first time in over a year of weekly meetings, Leo found himself with a reason to perk up and pay proper attention. There was a promotion on the line; could he finally be getting the position he deserved after a year of selling tech he couldn't even afford with his salary?

Beneath the table, he grabbed Jemma's hand, his eyes trained straight ahead on their boss. He hadn't really given grabbing onto her hand much thought, so he was grateful when she gave his a squeeze instead of pulling away, offering him a small smile despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her.

Jemma was hopeful that the promotion would be given to him. Maybe her failure at attempting to have Tim put in a good word with his supervisors wouldn't matter in the long run. Maybe Leo would end up with the job he so desperately wanted anyway.

"What department is the promotion in, sir?" Ward asked, to which Frost responded with, "Engineering," and Leo gripped Jemma's hand harder. It had to be him. No one else wanted a position in that lab like he did. No one else in the office had a desperate need to be working with their hands.

"So, without further ado, our top seller is…"

If he didn't say it soon, Leo was going to break Jemma's hand.

"Missy Caputo!"

Jemma's eyes widened with shock as the blonde woman a few seats down from Ward jumped to her feet and squealed, dashing forward to hug Frost with glee. No, no, no; that had to be a mistake. There was no way that Missy was their top seller; she'd only been here for two weeks! She knew for a fact from doing the paperwork that Leo's numbers were thousands of dollars higher than hers.

From the way Frost's hug lingered longer than appropriate, it didn't take Jemma long to come to the conclusion that this was some sort of ploy for him to get into the new girl's pants. Just the same, the look of disbelief and disappointment on Leo's face was enough to break her heart.

Once Missy had sat down again, still giggling and bouncing with glee, Frost began his presentation on the office improvements he had opted to make, which included new office tech- for him- and a new front desk phone, which would inevitably only benefit him in the long run. Eventually everyone tuned him out and focused on his screensaver when it popped up, but Jemma couldn't bring herself to enjoy the usual game. Not when Leo looked so let down. Of course, the square still didn't go into the corner by the time the meeting ended, and she quickly followed after Leo as everyone filed out of the room.

"Leo, wait-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Jemma."

"But I don't think you understand-"

"Oh, I understand perfectly," he ground out as he sat down at his desk, grabbing his headset with a scowl. "The pretty new girl is getting some insignificant promotion into the Engineering department, all so Frost can sleep with her. Yet, he once again has failed to remember that insignificant promotions can lead to further department promotions, meaning that stupid bimbo could wind up being a technical engineer and I'll still be sitting at this fucking desk, answering the damn phone!"

"_Leo,_" Jemma snapped, grabbing his shoulders and trying to make him quiet down before someone heard or he got himself into trouble with the boss, shaking her head. "I know you're upset about this, but shouting won't solve anything-"

"Nothing's going to solve anything. I'm going to be stuck working in this office for the rest of my pathetic life."

"No, you won't; Leo, you've just got to be patient. Stark is bound to realize your potential eventually-"

"How? Frost isn't going to put a word in for me. You have a better chance of getting into engineering than I do."

She knew he didn't mean his statement offensively; it was true. He lacked a main contributing factor in getting a Frost recommendation; breasts.

"You won't be stuck here forever," she disagreed gently, lifting the headset off again and setting it aside, resting her hands on his cheeks. "I promise, Leo. But losing your temper won't help you… It might just get you fired, and then where will you be?"

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, letting her touch calm his boiling blood. She "promised" he wouldn't be here forever, and all he could think about was her conversation with Tim that he had overheard. He hated that Jemma had to concern herself with his future, and he hated making her worry. So, despite the fact that he was still frustrated, he did his best to change the subject.

"Did you really see the square go into the corner…?"

Blinking a little at his question, a small smile pulled at her lips and she shrugged, brushing her thumbs over his cheeks.

"I could have just imagined it… Besides; when I see it happen, I want to see it with you."

"Have you two forgotten about the anti-fraternization policy?"

Both of them jumped when Grant Ward took his seat at the desk beside Leo's, and Jemma rolled her eyes.

"I'm _engaged_, Grant. We're just talking," she stated, dropping her hands from Leo's cheeks, and Leo quickly turned his attention to booting up his holo-screen.

"Yeah, Ward. She's engaged. Bugger off."

"Having a rough day, nerd?" the other man questioned and, despite the irritating nickname, his tone was almost sincere.

"I don't want to talk about it," was all he said before putting his headset on again, and he watched as Jemma made her way back to the front desk, almost certain he heard her sigh.

It was true. She was engaged. So he had absolutely no right to take comfort in her touch, or to wish that she could comfort him with something just a bit more. A kiss, maybe; a kiss that he _had no right_ to fantasize about.

Jemma Simmons was his best friend, and he wanted to be happy for her and her engagement. But, try as he might, he still couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to be with him, and not Tim.

"If it makes you feel better, Missy's job in engineering is nothing special. I heard she's just supposed to bring the scientists coffee and look pretty. Really, it's more of a demotion."

Frowning as Ward spoke, Leo shook his head and scrolled through the list of waiting calls for anything urgent.

"Anything would be better than sitting in a tiny cubical all day," he grumbled, and Ward shook his head, giving up on trying to be nice. He got a better response from his cubical neighbor when he stuck to picking on him.

"You couldn't pull off the skirts she'll have to wear, anyway, dork," he stated, putting on his own headset, "You don't have the legs for it. If you did, you'd have been promoted months ago."

Leo merely rolled his eyes at that, glancing over at the other man when he spoke again.

"Besides, Engineering doesn't have a pretty receptionist for you to flirt with when you get bored. What would you do then?"

"She's engaged," Leo stated again, "And I don't flirt with her. We're friends."

"Okay."

"Ward, she's my _friend_."

"Whatever you say."

It was no wonder he constantly got awkward questions regarding Jemma during his documentary interviews. Ward was probably spouting lies- no matter how true they technically may be- about how Leo wanted to be more than just her friend. He couldn't let that continue. If Jemma found out, it could ruin their friendship, and that was the last thing he wanted. Her friendship meant everything to him.

"Ward, I _swear_-"

"You've reached the Stark Industries helpline, and you're speaking to Grant; how may I help you?"

Rolling his eyes when the other man simply took one of his waiting calls and proceeded to pretend that the very irritated Scot wasn't there, Leo shook his head, pretending to continue scanning through his own waiting calls once again. But, instead, he was sneaking glances over at Jemma, who appeared to be working rather intently on something at her desk.

… . … . … . … . …

It was just as she had thought. Upon looking over the top seller rankings she had submitted to Frost last week, Jemma found that Missy was all the way down at number twelve. Even Ward was further up than she was and, also as she had thought, Leo _was_ the top seller. He had run a rather large computer deal with a campus containing three individual universities, and he'd made the company thousands when he closed that deal.

Frowning, Jemma got to her feet and walked the few steps toward Frost's office, knocking on the door. She was going to give the man a piece of her mind, whether he wanted to hear it or not. What would the Starks think of this? Surely Frost wasn't allowed to get away with promotion fraud. No matter what the job was, if it was promised to the top seller, it should be going to Leo.

Shaking her head when he didn't answer the door after several knocks, Jemma simply walked into the room, the rankings held purposefully in her hand.

"Mr. Frost, you made a mistake in awarding that prom- oh!"

Quickly using the paper to cover her eyes, Jemma curled her nose up in disgust. Currently, the git was in the middle of something rather pressing, given Missy was all but naked on his lap and his pants were down around his ankles while they sat perched atop his desk. Jemma was never going to touch the surface of that thing again.

"Care to join us, Miss Simmons?" Frost asked with a laugh, and her already prominent scowl deepened.

Whirling on her heel, Jemma slammed the office door and tossed the paper down on her desk, grabbed her purse and stalked toward the door to take an early lunch break. She needed to get some air, and to scrub that image out of her brain.


	4. The Promotion: Part 2

"Ma'am, if your warranty has expired, there really isn't much I can do- yes, I understand that the holophone is supposed to be fairly durable but, in Mr. Stark's defense, he didn't really design it for eight year olds. Can I interest you in a-?"

Frowning when Leo heard the distinct click of his customer hanging up, he shook his head. It honestly wasn't his fault that the woman's eight year old daughter had broken her glass projection phone playing with it outside at recess and, really, if she was so concerned something like that may happen, she should have opted for the extended warranty before spending nearly a thousand dollars on a cellphone.

Taking the next call waiting on his list, Leo began to say the usual helpline greeting, pausing halfway through when he noticed Jemma stalk out of Frost's office with a mixture of both disgust and horror. She didn't just stalk out of his office, either; she grabbed her purse and headed for the main door. His eyes flitting between her retreating figure and Frost's door, Leo jumped when the rather shrill voice of his customer shouted, "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" in his ear.

He wanted to run after her, but he couldn't, could he? Not in the middle of a call, anyway. Making a slightly frustrated noise, he proceeded to take his call, trying to hurry through it so that he could try and find Jemma before she got too far.

… . … . … . … . …

She wanted to report him to corporate. She wanted to find the number and take this straight to one or both of the Starks. She couldn't work like this anymore; not under the thumb of constant sexual harassment and lying and swindling. If Anthony wouldn't do something about it, surely Virginia would. But first, she was heading for Engineering. Surely they would see reason when they found out their newest recruit was being given the job in their department under false pretenses.

Pushing the door open when she reached the right floor thanks to the access code she had gained from doing Frost's errands, Jemma started in the direction of Tim's superiors' office. The Engineering lab had a very different layout in comparison to the office; it was polished and almost blindingly white, with tables and equipment distributed in even rows, and a set of metal stairs directed you up to the superiors' office, which had a wall of clear glass that allowed them to oversee all of the work being done. But, before she got close enough for them to even notice her, Tim's hand grabbed hers and he pulled her back a few steps, frowning with clear confusion.

"What are you doing here, Jem?"

"I came to speak with your superiors," she told him simply, pulling her hand from his grasp, and Tim's frown deepened.

"What for? Is this about having your friend promoted again? Because I told you, Jemma, I could lose my job if-"

"It's about Frost," she stated with a shake of her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mrs. Stark promised a position here, even if small, to the top seller in our department, and Frost lied about who that top seller was."

"This is about Caputo?" Tim asked, scoffing quietly. "Jem, this is ridiculous. You know as well as I do that all her job down here will be is bringing us all coffee when we want it and letting the guys look her over. Complaining about that to the superiors is just going to get us both into trouble-"

"How would it get _us_ into trouble?"

"-because the superiors wanted the job to go to her as much as we did."

"Wait, we? What do you mean _we?_"

"Come on, Jemma…" Grinning a little, Tim scratched the back of his neck. "If you were a guy, wouldn't you rather be given coffee by a pretty girl than your dorky little friend?"

"That's sexist," Jemma huffed, "and why are you so certain that this is about Fitz?" She frowned deeply when Tim called him a dork, and he all but rolled his eyes in response.

"Because it's _always_ about Fitz, Jemma! Would you really be down here vouching for the real top seller if it wasn't him? Would you put our jobs on the line for anyone _but_ Fitz?"

"This isn't going to put _our_ jobs on the line!" she snapped right back, scowling at Tim's lack of understanding. "This is about doing the right thing, Timothy! The right thing is hardly letting Frost get away with lying to corporate just so that he could sleep with Missy Caputo! _He_ is the one whose job should be on the line."

"But it won't be," Tim stated, frowning in return when she scowled and shouted at him, "Because this is _Stark_ Industries, Jemma. What do you think Stark did with nearly every female worker who came into this place before he got married if she was pretty? Huh? Do you really think he's going to fire Mitchel Frost just for sleeping with one of his employees when he used to do the exact same thing? Do you really think Stark wants everyone in this company to think he's a huge fucking hypocrite?

"Because that's what will happen if he fires that guy. It doesn't matter if he's a creep; he's not getting fired anytime soon. We'll just get fired for putting him in that position; you for bringing this to his attention, and me for being stupid enough to get involved with a troublemaker."

"_Excuse me?_" Jemma hissed, gaping at Tim for his choice of words. "Suddenly I'm a _troublemaker_ for wanting to do the right thing?"

"The right thing isn't being a tattletale. We're not in kindergarten, Jemma, this is a business."

"And you're not just involved with me, we're bloody engaged! What is your problem?"

"At the moment, you are," Tim stated honestly, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave so I can do my work before you get me into trouble."

"You are the most-"

"Jemma. Go. Don't make me call security."

Shaking her head, she glanced toward the superiors' office before turning on her heel and hurrying out of the laboratory. If they had caught sight of her, they likely would have assumed they just witnessed a couple's spat. Maybe they would have made a few comments about why relationships between coworkers are never a good idea. Thanks to Tim, if they did see her they will never again take her seriously.

… . … . … . … . …

Leo's call had taken terribly long. Too long, really, when the only issue with the man's computer was that he needed to reboot it. He just couldn't seem to grasp the concept of shutting it off and turning it back on again because, evidently, the man didn't know how to turn it off to begin with. That had taken about twenty minutes to explain, given Leo didn't have the model of computer directly on hand. It didn't help matters that the man in question had an annoyingly high voice that had nearly drove Leo mad after almost a half hour of listening to him speak and complain about technology in general.

So, when he finally managed to find Jemma after vacating his position and forwarding his calls to Ward, Leo was a bit surprised. He had expected her to be long gone after almost forty minutes. He didn't expect to find her sitting down the street from their building on a bench with tears in her eyes.

"Jemma…?"

Jumping a little with surprise when she heard his voice, she hurried to dry her cheeks, forcing a tiny smile for him. He didn't believe it to be genuine the slightest bit; she was his best friend, and he could read her like a book. Something had happened, and it had to be worse than he had assumed it had been.

"Is it your lunch break already? I didn't think I was gone that long…" She tried to make conversation, and he shook his head as he sat down. Technically his lunch break wasn't for another fifty minutes, but he'd been worried about her. He was even more worried to find her sitting outside in the chilly November New York air without even a sweater on over her blouse when it could start raining at any second. Shrugging off his grey wool jacket, he placed it over her shoulders.

"I saw you crying, Jem. Talk to me."

She shook her head, evidently wanting to protest before her resolve started to crumble. They told each other everything; she might as well tell someone about what had happened, considering Tim seemed so convinced that the Starks wouldn't see reason for fear of a little gossip.

"I didn't believe that Missy Caputo was our top seller, so I went back and checked the sales reports I had filed last week. I was right, too; she wasn't the top seller. You were, and when I went to tell Frost about his mistake…" Shuddering, Jemma shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself under Leo's jacket, "I saw him shagging Missy atop his desk. My God, it was _disgusting_, and then the arse had the audacity to ask if I wanted to join them!"

Frowning deeply, Leo's arm went around Jemma's shoulders as he shook his head. It always took all he had to keep his cool whenever Frost harassed Jemma or she told him stories of what the man had done, but this was the last straw. This was crossing a line that should never, _ever_ be crossed.

"We have to tell corporate. That git can't get away with doing things like that in a bloody _office_."

"But that's not even the worst part! He obviously lied directly to corporate so that Missy would get the job!"

Her expression wavered when she sat that, and Leo's lips pulled down into a frown more out of worry than of anger. While something like this was bound to upset Jemma, it would just make her angry; it wouldn't make her _cry_.

"Jemma," he tried, giving her forearm a gentle squeeze, "Did something else happen?"

"What?" she asked quietly, quickly shaking her head, blinking back her tears, "No, no. Nothing else happened… I just… It's been a strange day, and-"

"Jemma."

Peeking up at him, Jemma frowned weakly. While Leo being able to read her like a book was often a good thing, it was also a curse.

"I went down to Engineering to talk to the superiors," she confessed quietly, doing her best not to start crying again. "I thought if they heard the truth they might do something about it; not allow Missy to transfer, for one. But then Tim…" Squeezing her eyes shut, Jemma took a quiet breath. She didn't want to start crying over Tim in front of Leo. It wasn't a secret that he wasn't her fiancé's biggest fan, but she had to tell him, didn't she? He was also her best friend, and she needed, more than anything, to confide in someone. While some of the girls in the office were nice… they wouldn't listen like Leo listened.

"Tim stopped me and told me that talking to them would be pointless. He said that they all wanted Missy to get the job so they would have someone to enjoy looking at, and that Stark would never fire Frost because it would make him look like a hypocrite. He also said that me complaining could get both myself and him fired; me for causing trouble, and him for being 'involved with a troublemaker'. He treated me like a child instead of his fiancée, Leo, and it was terrible. I just want to do the right thing!"

She was on the verge of crying again and Leo frowned, pulling her into his arms. He hated Tim Masters. He hated the idiot with a passion. He didn't treat Jemma how she deserved to be treated, and it made him sick to hear the things that moron said to her when she was only trying to help.

He wasn't going to stand for this.

"Don't spend the night at Tim's. I'll pick you up at your flat in the morning, and we'll contact corporate on the drive here. If you get fired for doing the right thing, then I'm quitting. I hate that bloody cubical anyway."

Her eyes widening, Jemma shifted to lean back enough to look up at him, a raindrop falling and landing on her forehead.

"You'd quit for me…?"

"O' course I would," he stated simply, a small smile pulling at his lips. "You're my best friend."

She was more than that to him. But still. It was true.

It was true, and Jemma couldn't help but think that _Tim_ would never quit if she got fired. Was she making the right choice marrying him, or had Leo been right about her rushing into things all along?

… . … . … . … . …

"What do I think of Leo and Jemma?"

Looking directly into the camera, his expression deadpan as if the answer should be obvious, Ward stated, "They're having an affair. It's only a matter of time before I prove it to everyone in the office. When I do, I'm going to become a very, _very_ rich man."

When the interviewers asked why, Grant rolled his eyes.

"Because everyone has placed bets on whether or not they're secretly having sex."

"…_duh_."


	5. Corporate Calls: Part 1

Fidgeting nervously as Leo drove, Jemma stared down at the cell phone in her hand. She hadn't spoken to either of the Starks since she and Leo were hired over a year ago, and now she was going to call them to complain about her boss? Were it anyone else at corporate, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal, but this was Tony and Pepper Stark, the people who had graciously offered them jobs when they were down and out. What if Tim was right? What if this really did just get them fired?

"I can't do it," she stated, squeezing her eyes shut as they reached a red light, "I just can't. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Glancing over at her, a frown pulled at Leo's lips.

"Forget about what Tim said," he tried, keeping his hands on the steering wheel despite how much he wanted to reach over and grab hers, "You won't get fired for reporting our git of a boss for fraud and sexual harassment. Someone should have ratted on him ages ago."

"But no one has," she reminded him, worrying her lip as she frowned anxiously, "There has to be a reason for that, doesn't there?"

Sighing, Leo pushed a hand through his hair, starting forward again when the light turned green and the car behind his honked. "Just... remember what I told you, yeah? If worse comes to worst and you do get fired, I'll quit. We'll figure something out, Jem, but I know you, and I know you follow rules religiously; if you don't tell corporate what happened, the guilt will drive you mad. I don't want to see that happen."

Turning her gaze away from him and back down to the phone in her hand, Jemma drew in a shaky breath. Leo was right; she could already feel the weight of the secret pressing down on her shoulders. Even if Leo knew the truth about what she had seen and learned, that wasn't quite enough. Leo couldn't take action; corporate could.

"Alright," she finally managed after a few moments, pulling a business card out of her wallet and looking over the number, "I'll call."

It was the business card of one Virginia Stark, although the name on it still read Pepper Potts above the phone number. It was what she was best known by, so she tended to still go by that among everyone but her employees who called her Mrs. Stark out of respect for their superior. She had given Jemma her card during their first meeting at her corporate office in Miami, and had told her not to hesitate to call if she had any questions. Jemma hadn't dared to do so until now.

She couldn't explain why she felt so nervous. Surely she couldn't be fired for this; she wasn't doing anything wrong. Truthfully, she was doing something right; Frost couldn't be let away with things like this.

"Just take a deep breath," Leo told her. He could sense her emotions as well as his own at this point, meaning he could tell perfectly well that she was so nervous that she might be sick- and he really didn't want to pay to have the interior of his car cleaned. "You can do this."

"I can do this..." she repeated quietly, taking a deep breath like he told her to, closing her eyes for a moment longer before dialing and putting the phone to her ear. If she didn't do it then nobody would.

"_Stark Industries, how may I help you?_"

Doing her best to keep calm so that her voice wouldn't squeak, Jemma responded with, "I'd like to speak with Mrs. Stark, please."

"_She's in a meeting right now, but I can connect you to Mr. Stark in the lab if it's urgent._"

Instantly, Jemma had Tim's words echoing loudly in her head. Speaking with Tony Stark was what she was most afraid of. She didn't want to insult him by accident or put her job on the line by bringing up an issue that may make him look like a hypocrite; all in all, she did not want to talk to Anthony. But what choice did she really have? She had to talk to _someone_, or she would lose her nerve and never follow through.

"Yes, please. Thank you."

"_Please hold._"

Exhaling a shaky breath when she was put on hold, Jemma felt Leo's eyes glancing over at her and could practically feel his concern in the air.

"What's-?"

"I'm being put through to Tony Stark. I'm going to have a panic attack, and I'm probably going to get fired, and-"

"Jem-"

"_You're on with Stark. Shoot._"

Feeling her eyes nearly bulge out of her head, Jemma struggled to breathe, and Leo pulled over to the side of the road with genuine worry. Shutting off the car, he turned to face her fully, resting a reassuring hand on her forearm and giving it a gentle squeeze, keeping his voice low.

"You can do this, Jemma; just _breathe._"

"_Hello?_"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Jemma did as Leo told her to, his touch helping her calm down just enough so that she could speak.

"Sorry. I... um... This is Jemma Simmons, sir. From the New York branch."

"_Simmons, Simmons... Oh! You're one of those SHIELD kids we hired when the whole Hydra thing happened. Yeah, I remember who you are. What's the deal?_"

"It's... Well, the 'deal', sir, is that... I... um..."

"_I'm not gonna bite you through the phone, kid. Relax._"

"It's about Mitchel Frost, sir."

Silence followed her statement, and Jemma thought it might drive her insane. This was it; he wasn't even going to hear her out. She was just going to be fired on the spot, possibly for being disloyal to her boss and thus to the company-

-and then she felt Leo's hand grip her arm a bit tighter, pulling her back into the present moment, enabling her to breathe evenly again. Turning to face him, she offered him a tiny smile, nodding in thanks, and he smiled just a little in return.

"_Right. Sorry. Frost. What's he done this time?_"

Furrowing her brow a little, Jemma leaned back in her seat again.

"Pardon me for asking, sir, but... 'this time'? Has someone complained about him before?"

"_Frost? Oh, God yeah. He's been walking on thin ice for months. A girl in your branch contacted our board of directors with a sexual harassment complaint, but it wasn't severe enough for us to let him go. He was given a warning that he'd be out if anything like it happened again._"

"Oh."

Finding herself wondering who in the office would be brave enough to contact corporate over Frost's behavior, she shook herself out of her thoughts when Stark spoke again.

"_So, what's the problem?_"

"I... well..."

Finding Leo's hand with hers to help herself stay calm so that she could explain everything, Jemma bit her lip before pressing on.

"It's... rather severe, sir. There was a promotion promised to the top seller in our office, and, as Mr. Frost's assistant, it's my job to file all of the paperwork involving our office's employees. Mr. Frost called a meeting yesterday to discuss the promotion, but he awarded it to the wrong person; he gave it to a new girl in the office. She'd only been working here for about two weeks, so I went back to check the sales numbers after the meeting and hers was far below many others... When I went to confront Mr. Frost about his mistake, I..."

Worrying her lip, afraid to continue, Jemma felt Leo squeeze her hand.

"_What happened?_"

"I... I opened the door to his office, because no one answered when I knocked, and... I caught him in a rather compromising position atop his desk with the young woman in question. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to join them. I was highly offended, and-"

"_Whoa, whoa. Hold on. You're saying Frost gave a promotion to the wrong person in exchange for sexual favors?_"

"It... would appear so, yes. I know it's not really my place to interfere, but-"

"_Like hell it isn't. This is... Oh, damn it; if this gets out, it won't be good. Pepper's going to lose it. Listen, we'll deal with it, okay? Just... don't mention what happened to anyone else. New York is crawling with people looking for a story, and this is front page worthy. Damn it! I knew we should have... I have to go. Thank you._"

With that the call was ended, and Jemma was left listening to the dial tone with her eyes wide. Beside her, Leo gave her hand a squeeze in an attempt to get her attention, finally settling on taking the phone from her hand and flipping it shut, unbuckling his seatbelt once he sat it down.

"Jem? Jemma, talk to me. What did he say? Hey! Jemma. _Jemma._"

Snapping his fingers in front of her face, he managed to snap her out of it and she turned to face him properly, swallowing the lump in her throat as he rested his hands on her shoulders.

"I... I don't think I got fired."

Furrowing his brow, he squeezed her shoulders gently.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I also don't know if Frost is getting fired."

"...oh."

"I don't know anything. He just hung up, and said that they're going to take care of it, and... Oh, Leo, what did I just _do?_"

Putting her face in her hands, struggling to keep from freaking out, Jemma drew in several shaky breaths. If Frost got into trouble for his actions but didn't get fired, he would know exactly who had reported him. He could make her life a living hell. He wouldn't just fire her; he'd do something worse. He was a petty man, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he would attempt getting revenge in some way or another.

Frowning, Leo shifted to pull her into his arms, giving her a small squeeze.

"It's gonna be alright..."

"But what if-?"

"Don't even worry about it, yeah? Don't worry at all. You did the right thing, Jem. It's gonna be fine..."

After a moment, she allowed herself to lean into his arms and tried to let him comfort her. Maybe he was right. Maybe everything would be fine. But that didn't make her worry any less.


End file.
